Form-truck.



F; C. LEETHEM.

FORM TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1913.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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A TTORNEY THE COLUMBIA PLmjouRAPn co., WASHINIGTON, u. c

F. C. LEETHEM.

FORM TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1913.

1,173,288. Patented Feb. 29,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOR/VEYS THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, D. c.

FRANK C. LEETHEM,

OF MIDDLETOXVN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LATHAM AUTOMATIC REGISTERING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FORM-TRUCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1915.

Application filed. April 5, 1913. Serial No. 759,242.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK C. Lnn'rHnM, a citizen of the United States, residing at 117 Monhagen avenue, Middletown, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Form-Trucks, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to a truck which is intendedto be particularly useful in pressrooms for the purpose of carrying the printing forms from place to place such as in taking them to, or removing them from, the pressbeds.

' One of the objects of the invention is to provide a truck having a construction which particularly facilitates the alinement of the table or truck cover with the press-bed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a table or cover with a cover-plate of special construction which facilitates the proper horizontal alinement of the coverplate with the upper surface of the pressbed.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The general object of the invention is to produce a press-room truck which is simple in construction and effective in operation.

The invention consists in the general combination of parts and simplicity of details hereinafter described, all of which contribute to produce an eiiicient press-room truck.

A preferred embodiment of my invention will be particularly described in the following specification, while the broad scope of my invention will be pointed'out in the ap pended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a press-room truckembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevation. These views are partly broken away; Fig. 3 is a plan of the truck illustrating the manner in which it may be applied to the edge of a press-bed; Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the table or cover showing the cover-plate in elevation and illustrating de tails of the invention; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but broken away and showing the cover-plate raised above the table or cover.

-Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the frame of the truck, which may be of any suitable construction, preferably mounted upon wheels 2 which facilitate its movement about the press-room. The truck comprises a table or cover 3 which may be raised or lowered in any convenient manner upon the truck frame. For this purpose I may provide two members 4:, the lower portions of which are formed into racks 5 which may be engaged by pinions 6, said pinions being rigid with worm-wheels 7 which are rotated by worms 8 carried on a worm-shaft 9 extending across the frame. For convenience this worm-wheel may be rotated by handle-wheels 10 at either side of the truck. The upper ends of the members 4: are formed into sockets 11 which support the table or cover 3 by means of horizontal pins or trunnions 12.

Means are provided for holding the table or cover 3 normally in a horizontal position. For this purpose one of the members 4: may be provided with a substantially horizontal arm 13 carrying a movable pin 14: which may engage a lug 15 on the underside of the table. hen the pin 14: is withdrawn it permits the table to be swung on the horizontal pivot pins 12.

On the table or cover 3 I provide a coverplate 16 which is of rectangular form like the cover 3, but of much larger dimensions so that it presents overhanging edges 17 around the table. This plate 17 is preferably thin and flexible for a purpose which will appear hereinafter. It is intended to support the printing form which lies directly upon it, and in order to assist in retaining the printing form two adjacent edges of the cover-plate may be provided with clips 18. This cover-plate 17 has a pivotal or swiveling movement at a single point 19, which is the center of the table. This arrangement greatly facilitates the movement of the truck through a crowded press-room as it enables the cover-plate to swing into different positions to avoid ma chinery or other obstructions in its path without necessitating the movement of the entire truck. Furthermore it enables either side of the form to be presented to the pressbed when the form is to be slid onto the press-bed. In Fig. 3 the truck is illustrated with the long side of the cover-plate engaging with the edge 20 of the press-bed, the said edge 20 having a rabbet groove 21. The thickness of the cover-plate 16 should be the same as the depth of this rabbet groove, so that when the cover-plate is placed in position there will be no projection at the meeting line 22, so that the printers form on the cover-plate can be slid readily over onto the press-bed.

The worms 8 in connection With the worm-wheel 7 facilitate the adjustment of the table 3 to about the height of the pressbed, but in order to bring about a nice adjustment of the cover-plate to bring it into the position illustrated, I prefer to provide for raising the cover-plate independently of the table 3. This is most conveniently accomplished as indicated in Figs. 4L and 5, by means of a pivot pin 23 which is preferably centrally mounted in an enlarged bore 24 in the table 3. The upper end of this pin 23 is preferably formed with a collar 25, which is normally received in a seat or socket 26 in the upper portion of the bore 24. When the pin is down and in its normal position, the cover-plate 16 to which it may be attached by screws 27, lies upon the upper surface of the table 3. hen in this 7 position the pivot pin forms a.true.pivot for the cover-plate, permitting it to swing in different positions but holding it centered on the table.

In order to permit a slight rocking movement of the cover-plate and to facilitate the application of its edge to the edge of the press-bed, I provide means for raising the pin 23. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner, such as by means of alever 28 pivotally supported on a link 29 on the underside of the table, the end of the lever having an opening 30 which receives the tapered tip 31 of the pin. This lever may be provided with a locking pawl 82 cooperating with a segment 33 for locking the cover-plate in an elevated position.v (hen the pin is raised as indicated in Fig. 5, the cover-plate is held elevated .above the table, and furthermore the collar 25 passes out of the socket 26, and by reason of the fact that the bore 24 is larger than the pin 23, a limited rocking movement in any direction can be had by the cover-plate. This enables the edge of the cover-plate, which is adjacent to the press-bed, to be raised and slipped over the rabbet groove 21, and it can then be depressed so as to register exactly with the groove as illustrated in Fig. 3. On account of the pivot connection a perfect alinement of the edge of the coverplate and the edge of the press-bed may be effected, and this effect is augmented by the fact that the overhanging edge 17 is flexible so as to take up any slight variations in accuracy of the alinement. It should be understood, however, that a perfect alinement can be accomplished with an overhanging edge which is not flexible. If it is not desired to apply the long side of the cover-plate to the edge of the press-bed, the cover-plate may be readily swung around either before or after it is raised so as to apply the short edge to the press-bed.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described above is only one of the many forms or embodiments the in vention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in my claims to the particular embodiment described above.

hat I claim is:

1. A truck for press-ro0ms comprising'a frame, a table, means for supporting and adjusting said table upon said frame, a cover-plate normally lying flat upon said table, and means for elevating and supporting said cover-plate at a single point on the table to permit the plate torock at said point. 2. A truck for press-rooms comprising a frame, a table, means for supporting and adjusting the height of said table upon said frame, a. cover-plate pivotally mounted on said table and adapted to swing .into different positions, and means for raising said cover-plate above said table.

A truck for press-rooms comprising a frame, a. table, adjusting the height of said table upon said frame, and a cover-plate pivotally mounted on said table and adapted to swing into different positions, the connection between said cover-plate and said table comprising a substantially vertical pivot pin, and means for raising said pivot pin to raise said coverplate above said table.

i. A truck for press-rooms comprising a frame, a table, means for supporting and adjusting the height of said table upon said means for supporting and on said table and adapted to swing into different positions, the connection between said cover-plate and said table comprising a substantially vertical pivot pin, and means for raising said pivot pin to raise said coverplate above said table, said pin and said cover-plate being arranged so as to permit a limited lateral movement of said coverplate when said pivot pin is held raised.

5. A press-room truck comprising a frame, atable, means for adjustably supporting said .table on said frame, a coverplate mounted on said table and having an overhanging edge beyond said table, said cover-plate being of resilient material and permitting a limited movement at said overhanging edge.

6. A press-room truck comprising a hanging edge, and means for raising and lowering said cover-plate with respect to said table.

7. A press-room truck comprising a frame, members movably supported on said frame and adapted to be adjusted up or down thereupon, a table pivotally supported on said members, means for normally holding said table in a substantially horizontal position, a resilient flexible cover-plate mounted on said table and having an overhanging edge projecting beyond said table and adapted to engage the edge of a pressbed.

8. A press-room truck comprising a frame, members movably supported on said frame and adapted to be adjusted up or down thereupon, a table pivotally supported 011 said members, means for normally Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the FRANK C. LEETHEM.

in a substantially horiresilient flexible cover- VVitnesses F. D. AMMEN, BEATRICE MIRVIS.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

